Systems and methods for protecting users

ABSTRACT

The disclosed computer-implemented method for protecting users may include (i) intercepting an attempt to login to a user account of an application using a login credential, (ii) preventing a user corresponding to the user account from revealing personally identifiable information by populating a field for the login credential with a value for an identity-masking persona as a substitute for the personally identifiable information, and (iii) enabling a completion of the attempt to login to the user account of the application using the value for the identity-masking persona, rather than the personally identifiable information, to provide the user with access to an online resource through the application. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND MATERIALS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/858,320, filed Jun. 6, 2019, titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORPROTECTING USERS,” and the disclosure of this provisional application isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Additionally, the following applications are incorporated by reference,in their entirety, and furthermore the modules, methods, systems,computer-readable mediums, and/or techniques disclosed (see the flowdiagrams of FIGS. 2-6, etc.) in this specific application may leverage,coordinate with, utilize, and/or operate through the underlyingtechnologies disclosed in these incorporated applications as would beappropriate, obvious, implicit, or inherent, or otherwise disclosed, tothe reader having skill in the art, and as further discussed below:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/263,330, filed Jan. 31, 2019, titled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING NETWORK EFFICIENCY” (hereinafter“APPLICATION 1”);

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/262,252, filed Jan. 30, 2019, titled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING DEVICES” (hereinafter “APPLICATION2”);

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/262,275, filed Jan. 30, 2019, titled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SECURING COMMUNICATIONS” (hereinafter“APPLICATION 3”);

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/836,505, filed Dec. 8, 2017, titled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ANONYMIZING USER ACCOUNTS” (hereinafter“APPLICATION 4”); and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/645,258, filed Oct. 4, 2012, titled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENABLING USERS OF SOCIAL-NETWORKINGAPPLICATIONS TO INTERACT USING VIRTUAL PERSONAS,” and which alsoresulted in U.S. Pat. No. 9,321,969 (the resulting patent document, asdistinct from the original application, is also incorporated byreference in its entirety) (hereinafter generally referred to as“APPLICATION 5”).

The incorporation of each of the above listed applications is optionaland subsequently one or more of these incorporation statements and/orcorresponding references below to these incorporated applications may beoptionally deleted without detracting from the original andnon-incorporated subject matter that is further described in detailbelow (e.g., the methods and variations of methods corresponding toFIGS. 2-6).

BACKGROUND

The disclosed subject matter generally relates to the field ofprotecting users using security software and corresponding systems. Morespecifically, the disclosed subject matter may improve upon deficienciesor nonoptimal aspects of technologies that (i) help to secure a user'sprivacy and/or anonymity online, (ii) help users to securely shareaccess to one or more devices, including Internet-of-Things devices,and/or (iii) help guardians, administrators, and others to effectivelymonitor or supervise computer activity by another user, such as anemployee or a guardian's child. Specific details of the improvementsdisclosed herein within these general fields of technological subjectmatter are discussed in the detailed description below.

SUMMARY

As will be described in greater detail below, the present disclosuredescribes various systems and methods for protecting users. In oneexample, a computer-implemented method for protecting users may include(i) intercepting an attempt to login to a user account of an applicationusing a login credential, (ii) preventing a user corresponding to theuser account from revealing personally identifiable information bypopulating a field for the login credential with a value for anidentity-masking persona as a substitute for the personally identifiableinformation, and (iii) enabling a completion of the attempt to login tothe user account of the application using the value for theidentity-masking persona, rather than the personally identifiableinformation, to provide the user with access to an online resourcethrough the application. In another example, a correspondingcomputer-readable medium may be encoded with computer-readableinstructions that, when executed by a physical processor of a computingdevice, may cause the computing device to perform this method.

In further examples, intercepting the attempt to login to the useraccount of the application using the login credential is performed by acloud-based proxy security service. Furthermore, in some examples,intercepting the attempt to login to the user account of the applicationusing the login credential is performed by the cloud-based proxysecurity service in coordination with a client-side application at aclient device operated by the user.

Additionally, in some examples, the login credential includes at leastone of a username or password. Furthermore, in some examples, populatingthe field for the login credential includes (i) detecting that the fieldfor the login credential was previously populated by personallyidentifiable information and/or (ii) substituting the value for theidentity-masking persona for the personally identifiable information.

Furthermore, in some examples, preventing the user corresponding to theuser account from revealing the personally identifiable informationincludes (i) retrieving a map that maps identity-masking personas tocorresponding applications and/or (ii) identifying the identity-maskingpersona that, according to the map, corresponds to the application.

Additionally, in some examples, enabling the completion of the attemptto login to the user account of the application includes (i) presentingthe field for the login credential populated with the value for theidentity-masking persona to the user at a client device and/or (ii)receiving approval from the user at the client device for completion ofthe attempt to login to the user account of the application using thevalue for the identity-masking persona.

Similarly, in some examples, the identity-masking persona deviates fromthe personally identifiable information along at least two of thefollowing dimensions: underlying social media content, natural languageusage, writing style, and/or social media meme usage. Furthermore, insome examples, (i) the dimensions are consistent with each other inaccordance with a demographic of the identity-masking persona and/or(ii) the demographic of the identity-masking persona deviates from thepersonally identifiable information for the user. Additionally, infurther examples, populating the field for the login credential with thevalue for the identity-masking persona includes populating the fieldwithin a login screen according to an avatar of the identity-maskingpersona.

In one example, a corresponding system may include (i) an interceptionmodule, stored in memory, that intercepts an attempt to login to a useraccount of an application using a login credential, (ii) a preventionmodule, stored in memory, that prevents a user corresponding to the useraccount from revealing personally identifiable information by populatinga field for the login credential with a value for an identity-maskingpersona as a substitute for the personally identifiable information,(iii) an enablement module, stored in memory, that enables a completionof the attempt to login to the user account of the application using thevalue for the identity-masking persona, rather than the personallyidentifiable information, to provide the user with access to an onlineresource through the application, and (iv) a physical processorconfigured to execute the interception module, the prevention module,and the enablement module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate a number of example embodiments andare a part of the specification. Together with the followingdescription, these drawings demonstrate and explain various principlesof the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for protecting users.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an example method for protecting users.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example method for protecting users.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an example method for protecting users.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example method for protecting users.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method for protecting users.

FIGS. 7-41 show example graphical user interfaces.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram of an example computing system capable ofimplementing one or more of the embodiments described and/or illustratedherein.

FIG. 43 is a block diagram of an example computing network capable ofimplementing one or more of the embodiments described and/or illustratedherein.

Throughout the drawings, identical reference characters and descriptionsindicate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. While theexample embodiments described herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have beenshown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detailherein. However, the example embodiments described herein are notintended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, thepresent disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of example system 100 for protecting users. Asillustrated in this figure, example system 100 may include one or moremodules 102 for performing one or more tasks. Each one of theserespective modules may perform a corresponding feature, action, or stepfor one of the embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, as will bediscussed in more detail below in connection with the flow diagrams ofFIGS. 2-6. In various embodiments, some or all of modules 102 may bedisposed client-side and/or server-side, as appropriate, and consistentwith the discussions below. In some illustrative examples, embodiments1-4 shown in FIG. 1 here may operate through the underlying securityproxy server technology described in more detail in APPLICATIONS 1-3incorporated by reference above. Similarly, embodiments 1-2 here mayimprove upon, and address potential shortcomings of underlyingidentity-masking persona/avatar technology described in more detail inAPPLICATIONS 4-5 incorporated by reference above. In particular,embodiment 3 here may operate through underlying technology described inAPPLICATION 3 incorporated by reference above (describing techniques formanaging Internet-of-Things devices). Generally speaking, some or mostvariations of embodiments 1-4 may operate server-side, as furtherdescribed in the underlying cloud-based proxy server technology ofAPPLICATIONS 1-3. The parental control technology of embodiment 5, andthe related technology of embodiment 6, herein may also optionallyoperate through the underlying cloud-based proxy server technology ofAPPLICATIONS 1-3 and/or may optionally operate locally through a localarea network gateway, such as a smart home router that issecurity-centric, as discussed in more detail below. Of course, althoughembodiments 1-6 are shown separate from each other in FIG. 1, in someexamples these embodiments may be combined or overlapped, asappropriate, and as discussed in more detail below.

In certain embodiments, one or more of modules 102 in FIG. 1 mayrepresent one or more software applications or programs that, whenexecuted by a computing device, may cause the computing device toperform one or more tasks. For example, and as will be described ingreater detail below, one or more of modules 102 may represent modulesstored and configured to run on one or more computing devices. One ormore of modules 102 in FIG. 1 may also represent all or portions of oneor more special-purpose computers configured to perform one or moretasks.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, example system 100 may also include one ormore memory devices, such as memory 140. Memory 140 generally representsany type or form of volatile or non-volatile storage device or mediumcapable of storing data and/or computer-readable instructions. In oneexample, memory 140 may store, load, and/or maintain one or more ofmodules 102. Examples of memory 140 include, without limitation, RandomAccess Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), flash memory, Hard DiskDrives (HDDs), Solid-State Drives (SSDs), optical disk drives, caches,variations or combinations of one or more of the same, and/or any othersuitable storage memory.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, example system 100 may also include one ormore physical processors, such as physical processor 130. Physicalprocessor 130 generally represents any type or form ofhardware-implemented processing unit capable of interpreting and/orexecuting computer-readable instructions. In one example, physicalprocessor 130 may access and/or modify one or more of modules 102 storedin memory 140. Additionally or alternatively, physical processor 130 mayexecute one or more of modules 102 to facilitate protecting users.Examples of physical processor 130 include, without limitation,microprocessors, microcontrollers, Central Processing Units (CPUs),Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) that implement softcoreprocessors, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), portionsof one or more of the same, variations or combinations of one or more ofthe same, and/or any other suitable physical processor.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an example computer-implemented method 200for protecting users. The steps shown in FIG. 2, and similarly for FIGS.2-6, may be performed by any suitable computer-executable code and/orcomputing system, including system 100 in FIG. 1, and/or variations orcombinations of one or more of the same. In one example, each of thesteps shown in FIGS. 2-6 may represent an algorithm whose structureincludes and/or is represented by multiple sub-steps, examples of whichwill be provided in greater detail below.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram for method 200 corresponding to embodiment 1 ofFIG. 1. Generally speaking, the modules of embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 1may perform the respective steps of method 200. For example, at step202, interception module 104 may intercept an attempt to login to a useraccount of an application using a login credential. At step 204,prevention module 106 may prevent the user corresponding to the useraccount from revealing personally identifiable information by populatinga field for the login credential with a value for an identity-maskingpersona as a substitute for the personally identifiable information. Atstep 206, enablement module 108 may enable the completion of the attemptto login to the user account of the application using the value for theidentity-masking persona, rather than the personally identifiableinformation, to provide the user with access to an online resourcethrough the application.

Modules 102 may perform method 200 in a variety of ways. For example,interception module 104 may perform step 202 as part of a cloud-basedproxy security service, including those described in APPLICATIONS 1-3incorporated by reference above. Interception module 104 may, as part ofthe cloud-based proxy security service, perform step 202 in coordinationwith a client-side application at a client device operated by the user.

In some examples, the login credential may include a username and/or apassword. Moreover, prevention module 106 may populate the field for thelogin credential at least in part by detecting that the field for thelogin credential was previously populated by personally identifiableinformation and/or substituting the value for the identity-maskingpersona for the personally identifiable information. Prevention module106 may perform this detection and/or substitution procedure locally atthe client device operated by the user and/or remotely throughinstructions from the proxy-side security service (e.g., the proxy-sidesecurity service may detect that the personally identifiable informationwas manually inserted locally at the client device and then transmitinstructions to the client device to substitute the personallyidentifiable information with the identity-masking persona value).

In some examples, prevention module 106 may prevent the usercorresponding to the user account from revealing the personallyidentifiable information at least in part by retrieving a map that mapsidentity-masking personas to corresponding applications and/oridentified identity-masking persona that, according to the map,corresponds to the application. Furthermore, in some examples,enablement module 108 may enable the completion of the attempt to loginto the user account of the application at least in part by presentingthe field for the login credential populated with the value for theidentity-masking persona to the user at the client device and/orreceiving approval from the user at the client device for completion ofthe attempt to login to the user account of the application using thevalue for the identity-masking persona.

In some examples, the identity-masking persona deviates from thepersonally identifiable information along at least two of the followingdimensions: underlying social media content, natural language usage,writing style, and/or social media meme usage. In further examples, thedimensions are consistent with each other in accordance with ademographic of the identity-masking persona and/or the demographic ofthe identity-masking persona that deviates from the personallyidentifiable information for the user. Additionally, in some examples,prevention module 106 may populate the field for the login credentialwith the value for the identity-masking persona at least in part bypopulating the field within a login screen according to an avatar of theidentity-masking persona.

Although not further illustrated in a flow diagram within the drawings(for space and efficiency reasons), method 200 may also correspond to analternative variation, which may be performed optionally by the modulesof embodiment 2 shown in FIG. 1. In this alternative embodiment,interception module 110 may intercept an attempt by a user account of anapplication to upload an item of content to the application.Subsequently, modification module 112 may modify, automatically as partof an application configured to protect personally identifiableinformation of the user account, the item of content to increase adegree to which the item of content matches an identity-masking persona.Furthermore, uploading module 114 may upload the modified item ofcontent rather than an original version of the item of content to helpthe user account benefit from privacy protection provided by theidentity-masking persona.

Modules 102 may perform this alternative variation of method 200 in avariety of ways. In some examples, modification module 112 may modifythe item of content to increase the degree to which the item of contentmatches the identity-masking persona at least in part by modifying anumber of words included within the item of content. Additionally, oralternatively, modification module 112 may modify the item of content toincrease the degree to which the item of content matches theidentity-masking persona at least in part by modifying a writing stylesignature of the item of content.

Additionally, or alternatively, modification module 112 may modify theitem of content to increase the degree to which the item of contentmatches the identity-masking persona at least in part by modifying anumber of emojis included within the item of content. Furthermore, insome examples, modification module 112 may modify the item of content toincrease the degree to which the item of content matches theidentity-masking persona at least in part by modifying the item ofcontent to increase a level of consistency with a demographic age of theidentity-masking persona. Additionally, or alternatively, modificationmodule 112 may modify the item of content to increase the degree towhich the item of content matches the identity-masking persona at leastin part by modifying the item of content to increase a level ofconsistency with a regional language style of the identity-maskingpersona.

Furthermore, in some examples, uploading module 114 may upload themodified item of content rather than the original version of the item ofcontent at least in part by first prompting the user account to approvethe modifying of the item of content and/or receiving approval from theuser account of the modifying of the item of content. In furtherexamples, first prompting the user account to approve the modifying ofthe item of content may include visually displaying the modified item ofcontent to the user account. Moreover, in further examples, uploadingmodule 114 may upload the modified item of content transparently as abackground process. Additionally, or alternatively, uploading module 114may upload the modified item of content transparently as the backgroundprocess without intervention by the user account.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram for a method 300 corresponding to embodiment6 of FIG. 1. Generally speaking, the modules of embodiment 6 shown inFIG. 1 may perform the respective steps of method 300. At step 302,display module 132 may display, through a graphical user interface for athird-party security application executing within an operating systemenvironment, a button for a user to select. At step 304, display module132 may display, through the graphical user interface, a prompt thatprompts the user to select the button in order to receive a reward. Atstep 306, configuration module 134 may configure the graphical userinterface such that selecting the button triggers both a conspicuousresponse that provides access to the reward and a more hidden responsethat initiates application of a security service to protect the user.Subsequently, at step 308, performance module 136 may perform, based onreceiving a selection of the button, both the conspicuous response andthe more hidden response.

The modules of embodiment 6 may perform method 300 in a variety of ways.For example, the more hidden response may initiate one or more ofmultiple different options, including a virtual private networkconnection, a proxy security server connection that intercepts networktraffic and applies a security policy to the intercepted networktraffic, and/or a parental control service. Generally speaking, the morehidden response may correspond to a response that the user is lesslikely to initiate manually and independently (as distinct frominitiating the hidden response invisibly together with the conspicuousresponse using the button of method 300). For example, the hiddenresponse may correspond to a technical process that is potentiallydifficult or cumbersome for a non-technical user to complete (e.g.,configuring a virtual private network). Additionally, or alternatively,the hidden response may correspond to the execution of software that theuser does not necessarily desire or benefit from directly, but insteadmonitors or manages the user's behavior for the benefit of anotherparty. For example, a child may not directly desire to benefit fromparental control software, and therefore the child may not alwaysconsistently turn the parental control software on, whereas the guardianof the child may directly benefit and desire for the parental controlsoftware to be used more consistently. Accordingly, bundling theconspicuous response and the more hidden response together through thetoggling of the graphical user interface button may help to prompt theuser to more consistently trigger the hidden response.

In general, one illustrative example of the button of embodiment 6 maycorrespond to button 2002 of FIG. 20, as discussed in more detail below.Nevertheless, in other examples, the button may correspond to anysuitable button that may be presented to a user by a graphical userinterface, in accordance with method 300, to prompt the user, such as aprotected child, to select or toggle the button and thereby receive areward, as distinct from toggling a security service, which maynevertheless be additionally toggled, as discussed above.

In some examples, the graphical user interface omits displaying to theuser any information regarding the more hidden response. Accordingly,the performance of the more hidden response may be partially,substantially, or entirely hidden (e.g., as a background process) fromthe user. Instead, the graphical user interface may focus on displayingprompts or other information that focus on the conspicuous response andits reward, as discussed further below.

In some examples, the operating system environment includes a mobileoperating system environment that places a limit on an ability of thethird-party security application to autonomously perform the hiddenresponse without user intervention. Additionally, or alternatively, inthis embodiment the graphical user interface may display the button andthereby prompt the user to provide the user intervention such that thelimit on the ability of the third-party security application toautonomously perform the hidden response is circumvented.

Furthermore, in some examples, and as further discussed above, the morehidden response involves substantially more technical sophisticationthan the conspicuous response. Additionally, in these examples, thegraphical user interface may display the button to thereby prompt theuser to trigger the third-party security application to complete theprocess of the more hidden response despite the user lacking technicalsophistication.

As first described above, in one example the user may include aprotected child who is in a guardian-child relationship with theguardian. The guardian may furthermore administer a parental controlsystem in connection with the third-party security application.Moreover, in these examples, the conspicuous response may provide theprotected child with access to the reward, which the protected child mayhave earned through performing a security-based instructional exercisewithin the parental control system, as discussed further below. In morespecific examples, the reward may include at least one of a monetaryreward and/or an amount of network connectivity time.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram for a method 400 corresponding to embodiment3 of FIG. 1. Generally speaking, the modules of embodiment 3 shown inFIG. 1 may perform the respective steps of method 400. At step 402,reception module 116 may receive, at an online social network from afirst member of the online social network, a request to delegate anaccess right to an Internet-of-Things device possessed by the firstmember to a second member within the online social network to which thefirst member is connected as a social contact. At step 404, grantingmodule 118 may grant, as part of the online social network, the requestto delegate the access right to the Internet-of-Things device to thesecond member to provide the second member with at least a limitedability to interact with the Internet-of-Things device possessed by thefirst member of the online social network.

Modules 102 may perform method 400 in a variety of ways. For example,the online social network may optionally maintain a registry thatmatches registered user accounts of the online social network todelegation rights for Internet-of-Things devices. Furthermore, in someexamples, the Internet-of-Things device is owned by the first member ofthe online social network.

Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples the online socialnetwork functions as a cloud-based proxy security service that masks atleast one implementation detail for delegating the access right from thesecond member to protect a level of privacy of the first member of theonline social network. In even further examples, the implementationdetail may include at least one or more of the following: a local areanetwork administrator login credential, a geolocation identifier of theInternet-of-Things device, an Internet protocol address corresponding tothe Internet-of-Things device, and/or an identifier of one Internetservice provider that provides connectivity to the Internet-of-Thingsdevice.

Additionally, or alternatively, the online social network may providethe limited ability to interact with the Internet-of-Things device tothe second member through an application connecting the second member tothe online social network. Furthermore, in some examples, the onlinesocial network provides the limited ability to interact with theInternet-of-Things device without opening a port on the firewallprotecting the Internet-of-Things device.

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram for a method 500 corresponding to embodiment4 of FIG. 1. Generally speaking, the modules of embodiment 4 shown inFIG. 1 may perform the respective steps of method 500. For example, atstep 502, interception module 120 may intercept, as part of acloud-based security proxy service, network traffic originating from amobile application at a mobile device connected to a local area networkprotected by the cloud-based security proxy service. At step 504,detection module 122 may detect, as part of the cloud-based securityproxy service, a threat indicator indicated by the mobile application.At step 506, modification module 124 may modify the network trafficoriginating from the mobile application at the mobile device byapplying, as part of the cloud-based security proxy service and based ondetecting the threat indicator indicated by the mobile application, asecurity policy to protect the mobile device and the local area networkfrom a candidate threat corresponding to the threat indicator.

Modules 102 may perform method 500 in a variety of ways. In someexamples, modification module 124 may further provide to a monitoringcomputing device substantially real time visibility into the networktraffic originating from the mobile application at the mobile device.Furthermore, modification module 124 may optionally provide thesubstantially real time visibility into the network traffic at least inpart by displaying, within a graphical user interface, an indicationactivity by the mobile application at the mobile device.

In some examples, interception module 120 may perform the interceptionof the network traffic originating from the mobile application at themobile device through the cloud-based security proxy service rather thanintercepting the network traffic at the mobile device. Additionally, oralternatively, the mobile application at the mobile device mayoptionally continue to proceed executing without awareness of themodifying of the network traffic by the cloud-based security proxyservice. Furthermore, in these examples, the mobile application mayoptionally effectively execute within a cloud-network-based sandbox andthe mobile application may lack awareness of the cloud-network-basedsandbox.

Additionally, or alternatively, detection module 122 may detect thethreat indicator indicated by the mobile application at least in part byperforming a behavioral analysis of behavior by the mobile application.Furthermore, in some examples, modification module 124 may modify thenetwork traffic such that the modification is at least partially random.Furthermore, in some examples, modification module 124 may modify thenetwork traffic at least in part by replacing at least a portion of thenetwork traffic with decoy network traffic. Anonymization of the networktraffic may prevent behavior fingerprinting of the mobile device oruser. For example, modification module 124 may replace the portion ofthe network traffic with decoy network traffic at least in part byscrambling a location of the mobile device. Additionally, oralternatively, modification module 124 may replace the portion of thenetwork traffic with decoy network traffic at least in part by modifyinga contact list resulting in a decoy contact list.

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram for a method 600 corresponding to embodiment5 of FIG. 1. Generally speaking, the modules of embodiment 5 shown inFIG. 1 may perform the respective steps of method 600. For example, atstep 602 detection module 126 may detect, as part of a parental controlsystem, network activity originating from a child computing deviceoperated by a child. At step 604, provisioning module 128 may provide,through the parental control system to a guardian computing deviceoperated by a guardian of the child and based on the network activityoriginating from the child computing device operated by the child,information indicating an overview of activity by the child at the childcomputing device to enable the guardian to apply, from the guardiancomputing device, application-specific policies that restrictapplication activity at the child computing device.

Modules 102 may perform method 600 in a variety of ways. For example,provisioning module 128 may provide the information indicating theoverview of activity at least in part by providing informationindicating a comprehensive list of mobile applications installed on thechild computing device. Additionally, or alternatively, provisioningmodule 128 may provide the information indicating the overview ofactivity at least in part by providing information indicating acomprehensive list of mobile applications executing on the childcomputing device.

Furthermore, in some examples, provisioning module 128 may provide theinformation indicating the overview of activity that enables theguardian to offer a reward in exchange for the child performing aninstructional activity that instructs the child regarding computingnetwork security. In these examples, the reward optionally may includeat least one of a financial or monetary reward and/or an allotment ofnetwork connectivity time. Furthermore, in some examples, a client-sideparental control application at the child computing device requests forthe child to manually toggle a button to trigger release of the reward.

Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples provisioning module 128may provide the information indicating the overview of activity by thechild such that the information enables the guardian at the guardiancomputing device to throttle performance by an application of the childcomputing device along at least one dimension.

In some examples, the parental control system may be centralized througha home local area network router. Additionally, or alternatively, infurther examples the parental control system may be centralized througha cloud-based proxy security server. Furthermore, in some examples, theparental control system may optionally enable the guardian at theguardian computing device to apply an application-specific policy forone application at the child computing device that is different thananother application-specific policy applied to a second application atthe child computing device.

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative example of a graphical user interface for aclient-side security-centric mobile application that the user may use inconnection with one or more of embodiments 1-5 outlined above. Asfurther shown in this figure, the graphical user interface may specifyan introductory greeting (“Hello Mary”). Furthermore, graphical userinterface may include an “activate protection” button 702, which theuser may toggle to begin or activate security protections according toone or more of the embodiments 1-5. The graphical user interface mayfurther include four separate buttons, which specify “my identity,” “mydata,” “my things,” and “my phone,” which the user may toggle,respectively, to further navigate to options for one or more securityfeatures or functionalities, as discussed in more detail below. Thegraphical user interface also includes a chat icon button 704 on the topright, a profile picture 706 on the top left, and also news feednotifications on the bottom, which may notify the user about potentialprivacy compromises on the dark web and/or notify the user aboutapplications on the user's local mobile device that may potentiallycompromise the user's privacy along one or more dimensions.

FIG. 8 further shows an example of the graphical user interface,corresponding to the user's navigation, after selecting the “myidentity” button within the interface previously shown in FIG. 7. Asfurther shown in FIG. 8, the graphical user interface may show displayoptions for “virtual me” and “virtual card,” which may help the user tonavigate to options for leveraging or utilizing one or moreidentity-masking personas as avatars, as discussed in more detail above,especially in connection with embodiments 1-2. The graphical userinterface of FIG. 8 also shows how the user may be immediately visuallynotified with indications of credit scores from three separate creditscore providers. The graphical user interface also includes options to“freeze” or “lock,” which may perform corresponding freezing or lockingactions to help protect the user's identity or credit score. Thegraphical user interface also displays indicators showing that each ofthe following monitoring functionalities has been activated: monitoringfor new credit cards, monitoring for dark web activities, monitoring fornew accounts, monitoring for new bank accounts, monitoring for criminalrecords, and/or monitoring for investments or 401(k) activity.

FIG. 9 further shows an example of a graphical user interface,corresponding to the user's navigation, after the user previouslyselected the “virtual me” button within the interface previously shownin FIG. 8. As further shown in this figure, the graphical user interfaceof FIG. 9 may include a list of avatars, including four separateavatars, Mary Smith, Anne Johnson, Eva Gonzales, and Jean Cooper. Theuser may toggle or trigger the display of the list of avatars byselecting the “avatars” icon or button at the top left of the graphicaluser interface. Alternatively, the user may select the “apps” icon orbutton at the top right of the graphical user interface to trigger thedisplay of a corresponding list of mobile applications. Moreover, inthis example, the graphical user interface may also specify a timingindicating the timing since when each specific avatar was previouslycreated (“Created 2 days ago”).

FIG. 10 shows an example graphical user interface, corresponding to theuser's navigation, after the user selected or indicated the exampleavatar of “Anne Johnson” in the previous graphical user interface ofFIG. 9. As further shown in this figure, the graphical user interface ofFIG. 10 may show multiple items of information regarding a specificavatar. For example, the graphical user interface may display a profileicon for the avatar. Similarly, the graphical user interface may displaya list of fields, on the left-hand column, and also values for thesecorresponding fields, on the right-hand column. These fields may includethe name, gender, date of birth, “created on” date, phone number,country, and email address for the specific avatar. Moreover, thegraphical user interface of FIG. 10 further illustrates how each one ofthese fields may be populated with the specific respective decoy value,thereby providing the avatar with decoy information with which toprotect the user's underlying personally identifiable information.

FIG. 11 shows an example graphical user interface, corresponding to theuser's navigation, after the user has returned to the graphical userinterface screen of FIG. 9 and then subsequently selected the “apps”icon or button. Selecting the “apps” button, or any suitablecorresponding button, may thereby trigger the graphical user interfaceto further display the screen of FIG. 11. As further shown in thisfigure, the graphical user interface may display a list of mobileapplications, or other applications, on the left-hand side. Moreover,the graphical user interface may also enable the user to link orassociate (e.g., as indicated by the “chain” indicator in the middlecolumn of FIG. 11) each one of the mobile applications with a respectiveavatar, from the list of available avatars previously discussed inconnection with FIG. 9. In the specific example of FIG. 11, each one ofthe available mobile applications has already been linked to the samespecific avatar of “Mary Smith.” Nevertheless, this example is merelyillustrative and, in other examples, the user may optionally specifydifferent respective avatars to correspond to different respectivemobile applications, thereby using different avatars for differentapplications rather than the same avatar for all of them.

FIG. 12 shows an example graphical user interface, corresponding to theuser's navigation, after the user has selected the “chain” indicatorwithin the graphical user interface of FIG. 11 (or any other suitablebutton/element) thereby triggering the graphical user interface tofurther display a list of available avatars to be linked, or associated,with a specific or respective mobile application. In the example of FIG.12, the list of available avatars are indicated to the user in the formof small profile pictures in a horizontal sequence 1202. Nevertheless,in alternative examples, the list of available avatars may be displayedto the user using any suitable display or graphical user interfacesequence. As further shown in the example of FIG. 12, the graphical userinterface may further display to the user an indicator specifying“Select Avatar,” and in response, the user may select one of the smallprofile pictures to further select the corresponding avatar from thelist of available avatars, corresponding to those previously shown inFIG. 9, and discussed in more detail above. The user may thereby link,or associate, the specific avatar with the respective mobileapplication. For confirmation, FIG. 13 further shows an example of thegraphical user interface, after the user has previously selected thesmall profile picture for “Eva Gonzales,” thereby linking, orassociating, that specific avatar with the respective mobileapplication.

FIG. 14 shows an example graphical user interface displayed to the userafter the user has previously navigated back to the home screen of FIG.7 and, at the home screen of FIG. 7, selected the “my things” button, asdiscussed in more detail below. From the screen of FIG. 13, the user maynavigate to the home screen by selecting a small “home screen” icon 1302on the bottom left of the FIG. 13 graphical user interface (i.e., to theleft of the small credit card icon on the bottom of the screen). Thegraphical user interface of FIG. 14 further displays to the user a listof devices, including especially Internet-of-Things devices, that theuser may manage, for security purposes, through the client-sideapplication in coordination with the cloud-based proxy security serviceof the embodiments 1-4 and APPLICATIONS 1-3 discussed in more detailbelow. More specifically, the example of FIG. 14 shows a list of atablet, a home security or video security interface, a smart thermostat,a smart fridge, and/or a smart television, each of which the user mayhelp manage or manipulate according to the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 15 shows an example graphical user interface displayed to the userafter the user has previously selected the home security system from thelist of managed devices shown in FIG. 14. As further shown in thisfigure, the graphical user interface may display to the user a riskassessment, which may include an indication of the reputation for themanufacture (e.g., “medium”) and/or an indication of the reputation orevaluation for the corresponding firmware (e.g., “out-of-date”). Thegraphical user interface also displays a small photographic icon for thesmart home security system at the top of the display. Furthermore,closer to the bottom of the display, the graphical user interface mayalso show a button or element for the user to select to access optionsor functionalities for the device and/or a button or element for theuser to select to “fix” or remediate the device (e.g., a “fix now”button).

Notably, at the top left of the screen corresponding to FIG. 15, thereis also a “friends” or “people” icon 1502, which further includes alarger user icon at the center and two smaller user icons on theright-hand side and left-hand side of the larger user icon and behindthe larger user icon. The user may optionally select icon 1502, therebytriggering the display of the graphical user interface of FIG. 16, asdiscussed in more detail below.

As further shown in FIG. 16, the graphical user interface may display analphanumeric identifier for the selected device to be managed (e.g., asecurity or video system). Moreover, the graphical user interface mayalso display a title, “Friends & Family,” thereby further indicatingthat the user has a list of friends and family who have been delegatedat least one or more access rights to access or interact with theselected device. In the example of FIG. 16, this list of friends andfamily has not yet been populated with any users. Accordingly, the usermay optionally toggle the “+” or plus icon 1602 at the top right of thescreen of FIG. 16, thereby enabling the user to select one or morecontacts within the corresponding social network, to thereby create oneor more access rights to access, or interact with, the selected device.The screens of FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 optionally correspond to embodiment 3of FIG. 1, as discussed and outlined in more detail above.

FIG. 17 shows an example graphical user interface with a horizontalsequence of user profile pictures, which further correspond to availableuser accounts, within a corresponding online social network, to whichthe user may optionally delegate one or more access rights to theselected device of FIG. 15. In the example of FIG. 17, the user mayoptionally swipe left to right to pull or drag the list of availablecontacts, thereby viewing more and more available contacts from which toselect as the target for granting of access rights to the selecteddevice.

FIG. 18 shows an example of the graphical user interface, which mayfurther display the additional information about one available contact,after the user has selected that specific contact by clicking upon, orotherwise toggling, the corresponding small user icon for that specificcontact. As further shown in this figure, the graphical user interfacemay optionally display a list of available access rights that the usermay potentially grant to the selected contact, where each of theseaccess rights provides a level of access or interactivity with theselected device of FIG. 15 (e.g., the previously selected home securityor video security system). FIG. 18 further shows that these accessrights, which are available for granting to the selected contact, mayinclude “live view video,” “take snapshot,” “delete snapshot,” and/or“power off/reboot.” Accordingly, these different available access rightsmay provide a selected contact, upon being granted with thecorresponding access right, with the ability to view live video throughthe home security video system, to take a snapshot through the system,to delete one or more snapshots, and/or to power off/reboot the homesecurity video system. Of course, the user is not required to grant allof these different access rights to the same single contact and,instead, may grant one or more permutations of these access rights toone or more contacts while also granting one or more permutations ofthese access rights to a different set of one or more contacts, therebycompleting a process of access right delegation.

More specifically, the example of FIG. 18 further includes an “add”button on the bottom, as well as an additional “cancel” button on thebottom of the graphical user interface. Accordingly, after previouslyselecting one or more of the granted access rights listed above (e.g.,“live view video”), the user may subsequently toggle the “add” button togrant this specific access right to a corresponding selected contact,thereby triggering the display of a graphical user interfacecorresponding to FIG. 19. In particular, the example graphical userinterface of FIG. 19 parallels the example graphical user interface ofFIG. 16, except that the example of FIG. 16 was empty, whereas theexample of FIG. 19 now includes an instance of the small profile picturefor the contact to whom an access right was delegated, therebyindicating that the specific contact has received the delegation of atleast one access right, as further discussed above. Furthermore, in theexample of FIG. 19, the user may optionally hover a mouse cursor orother input indicator over the small profile picture for the contact,thereby triggering the display of an identifier of the specific type ofaccess right (or multiple rights) that was delegated to this contact(e.g., “live view video”).

FIG. 20 shows an example of a graphical user interface corresponding tothe child computing device of the embodiment 5, as discussed in moredetail above. Accordingly, FIG. 20 shows a home screen of a client-sideapplication that may be executing on the child computing device, andwhich may be coordinating with a parental control system. As furthershown in this figure, the graphical user interface may display to thechild a “SEE MY AWARDS” button 2002. In some examples, this particularbutton may be displayed in a manner that is quite prominent andconspicuous, thereby further encouraging the child to toggle the button.Moreover, toggling the button may also activate or trigger the executionof one or more security and/or parental control policies, in accordancewith embodiments 5-6, and as discussed in more detail above.Furthermore, the corresponding graphical user interface may effectivelyrequest or require the user to select button 2002 in order to access orotherwise receive one or more rewards, thereby strongly incentivizingthe user to more consistently and continuously toggle the securityservices that are invisibly triggered by selection of button 2002, inaccordance with embodiment 6.

FIG. 21 shows another example graphical user interface at the childcomputing device. In particular, FIG. 21 shows an example of thegraphical user interface after the child has navigated away from thehome screen of FIG. 20 by selecting the “SEE MY AWARDS” button, asdiscussed above. The graphical user interface of FIG. 21 furtherdisplays a number of items of information for the child. For example,the graphical user interface displays “my time bank” icon 2102 and “mywallet” icon 2104, which may correspond to an allotment of networkconnectivity time (e.g., home network or Internet connectivity time)that the child may collect as an award and money as financial rewardsthat the child may also collect, respectively. At the top right portionof the graphical user interface, there is further shown a set 2106 oftwo graphical buttons, the button on the left may include a display of aclock, corresponding to a button to collect a reward of Internetconnectivity time, and the button on the right may optionally display acoin, corresponding to a button to collect a financial reward. Thegraphical user interface of FIG. 21 may also specify, on the left-handcolumn, the specific amount of network connectivity time that the childhas already collected. Similarly, the graphical user interface of FIG.21 may also specify, on the left-hand column, the specific amount offinancial reward, or money, that the child has already collected.Furthermore, FIG. 21 also shows how the graphical user interface maydisplay buttons with textual prompts enabling the child to save some ofthe financial reward money to a wallet of the child, to ask for morefinancial rewards from one or more guardians of the child, to purchasemore Internet or network connectivity time, and/or to ask for moreInternet/network connectivity time or ask for more financial rewardsfrom the guardian.

FIG. 22 shows another example graphical user interface, which may bedisplayed to the user after the user selects the “my phone” button orelement from the home screen shown in FIG. 7. The embodiment of FIG. 22may correspond to embodiment 4 of FIG. 1, as described in more detailabove. The graphical user interface of FIG. 22 shows how a user may bepresented, through a client-side security-centric mobile application incoordination with the cloud-based proxy security service of APPLICATIONS1-3, with a comprehensive review of security-related informationdetected, by the proxy security service, from network trafficoriginating from the user's client device. The graphical user interfaceof FIG. 22 may further specify “App Ratings” at the top and,furthermore, may specify a list of applications, using applicationicons, within clusters corresponding to risk indicators. For example,the graphical user interface of FIG. 22 shows, at the top, a cluster ofhigh risk mobile applications previously installed and/or executing onthe user's device. Similarly, the graphical user interface of FIG. 22shows, at the middle, a cluster of medium risk mobile applications.Furthermore, the graphical user interface of FIG. 22 shows, at thebottom, a cluster of low risk mobile applications. All of theseapplications may be detected, by the cloud-based proxy security servicebased on network traffic originating from the user's client device, and,in response, the proxy security service may provide the informationregarding potential threat indicators back to the client devicespecifically through the security-centric mobile application locallyinstalled on the client device.

FIG. 23 shows an example graphical user interface corresponding to theuser navigating to an information screen for a specific application,after selecting that specific application within the list of mobileapplication icons shown in FIG. 22, as discussed in more detail above.In particular, FIG. 23 shows how the graphical user interface mayoptionally display, to the user, helpful information regarding securityconcerns or issues in connection with the specific mobile application.These items of information may include the application name, a trustscore (e.g., on a scale from 1 to 100), an indication of a publisherreputation, an indication of the version of the mobile applicationand/or an indication of the amount of time that the mobile applicationhas been on the mobile application marketplace, a country of origin forthe mobile application, an indication of the installed/user population,and/or an indication of an ad network associated with the mobileapplication.

FIG. 23 also shows how the graphical user interface may optionallydisplay a “action” button 2302 on the bottom of the screen. Upontoggling button 2302, the graphical user interface may optionallydisplay a subsequent screen to the user, as further shown in FIG. 24.

FIG. 24 shows an example of the graphical user interface after the userhas selected the “action” button, discussed above in connection withFIG. 23. In particular, FIG. 24 shows how the graphical user interfacemay optionally display to the user a list of available actions that theuser may perform in connection with the selected mobile application. Asfurther illustrated in this figure, the list of applications may includeoptions for blocking the mobile application, deleting the mobileapplication, restricting the mobile application along one or moredimensions, and/or canceling the initial indication to perform an actionin connection with the mobile application.

FIG. 25 shows another example of the graphical user interface. FIG. 25parallels FIG. 22 in the sense that both of them list securityinformation regarding mobile applications installed on one or moredevices. Nevertheless, FIG. 25 differs from FIG. 22 in the sense thatthe user may navigate to FIG. 25 by selecting one or more of the deviceslisted within the “my things” button from the home screen of FIG. 7. Forexample, the user may optionally select the tablet from the list ofdevices shown in FIG. 14, thereby triggering the display of the securityinformation further shown in FIG. 25. In contrast, the administrator orguardian mobile device through which this individual manages a remainderof devices on the home network may access policies corresponding to thisprimary device through the “my phone” button within the home screen ofFIG. 7. In other words, the “my phone” button may trigger the display ofinformation regarding the primary administrator or guardian device formanaging the overall home network, whereas the “my things” button maytrigger the display of options for managing the Internet-of-Thingsand/or secondary mobile devices or other computing devices on the samelocal area network.

Returning to the example of FIGS. 22 and 25, the graphical userinterface displaying the security-centric information regardinginstalled and/or executing mobile applications may further be updated inreal time. For example, the user may optionally swipe a cursor or otherindicator to thereby trigger a refreshing or updating of the informationdisplayed within these graphical user interface screens. Upon completingone or more refresh operations, the graphical user interface may insert,delete, and/or relocate one or more icons for the mobile applications,thereby indicating that one or more of these applications was previouslyinstalled, uninstalled, and/or further indicating that one or more ofthese applications was switched in terms of its threat indicators status(e.g., switched from high to low risk, etc.).

Returning to the parental control system previously discussed inconnection with FIGS. 20-21, FIG. 26 shows an example graphical userinterface that the child computing device may display to a child toenable the child to accumulate more rewards, either in terms offinancial rewards and/or network connectivity time rewards, as furtherdiscussed above. In particular, FIG. 26 may show a list of availableinstructional videos, lessons, and/or seminars, from which the child mayselect to complete in order to be compensated in terms of financialrewards and/or network connectivity time rewards. In the specificexample of FIG. 26, the top of the graphical user interface may displayto the child an option for completing a “Password Safety” instructionallesson or seminar, which may further result in compensating the childwith “30 minutes” of network connectivity time, as further displayedwithin this graphical user interface. Below this option for the“Password Safety” seminar, there is another graphical indication for a“Online Shopping Safety” seminar, which, when completed, may furtherprovide the child with an additional or alternative reward in terms ofmoney or network connectivity time. In some examples, one or more ofthese lessons may correspond to a “bonus round” that the child maycomplete after previously depleting financial savings and/or Internetconnectivity allotments, thereby enabling the child to continue withonline purchases and/or Internet connectivity sessions.

FIG. 27 shows another example of the graphical user interface of FIG.26, after the user has previously scrolled down slightly from theposition of FIG. 26. Scrolling down from the position of FIG. 26 hasenabled the graphical user interface to reveal more informationregarding the “Online Shopping Safety” seminar. More specifically, thegraphical user interface now further specifies to the child thatcompletion of this particular seminar will result in rewarding the childwith a financial award of “$5.00.” Furthermore, the graphical userinterface also further displays, at the bottom of the screen, the titleof a subsequent seminar/procedure, with the title beginning “ResponsibleSocial Media.” The child may also optionally, or alternatively, selectand complete this additional seminar/procedure to obtain a correspondingreward, in a manner that parallels the rewards for theseminar/procedures that are further discussed above in connection withFIGS. 26-27.

FIG. 28 shows another example of the graphical user interface of FIG.21. The example of FIG. 28 differs from the example of FIG. 21, however,because in the example of FIG. 21, the “collect” rewards buttons, on thetop right, are highlighted, thereby further indicating to the child thatthe child may select either or both of these buttons to thereby collectrewards, in terms of money or network connectivity time, that the childpreviously earned and that are now therefore available to him or her. Incontrast, in the example of FIG. 28, the child has already clicked bothof these collect rewards buttons on the top right, thereby darkeningthese buttons (e.g., the darkening indicates to the child that there isnothing further available for the child to collect for now). Moreover,the particular amounts of money and/or connectivity time available tothe child, as specified on the left-hand side of the screen (i.e., “55 h34 m” and “$34.0” on the left-hand side of the screen in FIG. 28) showmodified, and increased, amounts, in comparison to the value shown inFIG. 21. For example, the value of available Internet connectivity timeof “53 h 30 m” in FIG. 21 has increased to “55 h 34 m” in FIG. 28, afterthe child clicked, on the left, the clock-based “collect” icon or buttonon the top right of the screen. The specification of money available tothe child has also increased, in a parallel manner, after the userclicked, on the right, the coin-based or money-based “collect” icon orbutton on the top right of the screen. In some examples, the graphicaluser interface may display real-time animation of these valuesincreasing in response to the user toggling the corresponding collecticon or button.

FIG. 29 shows an example graphical user interface after the child haspreviously selected the “ask for more” button previously shown in theparental control system screen of FIG. 21. Accordingly, the graphicaluser interface of FIG. 29 further displays to the child a pop-up messageprompting the user to “Ask for More Time.” The pop-up message may alsooptionally display to the child an indication to “Enter the amount inminutes.” Furthermore, the pop-up message may also optionally display a“Cancel” button as well as a “Pause” button. Accordingly, FIG. 29illustrates how the child may optionally specify a particular amount, interms of minutes, to request from a guardian or parent in terms ofnetwork connectivity time.

FIG. 30 displays another graphical user interface that may correspond toa distinct application, for the guardian of the child, which enables theguardian to coordinate with the parental control system discussed above.In other words, whereas FIGS. 20-21 show the application for the childcomputing device interacting with a parental control system, FIG. 30shows an optional home screen for a distinct application for theguardian of this specific child. The illustration of FIG. 30 alsofurther shows how the graphical user interface may include a button 3002to “activate protection,” in a manner parallel to the home screen ofFIG. 20 (e.g., the “SEE MY AWARDS” button of FIG. 20 further triggersthe activation protection from the perspective of the child). Thegraphical user interface of FIG. 30 also displays a list of childrenprotected under the guardian by the corresponding parental controlsystem, including the list of “Jonathan,” “Eva,” and “Diana.” On theright-hand side of each of the icons for each of these childrenprotected by the parental control system, there is further shown ahorizontal sequence of icons, thereby enabling the guardian to selectone or more of these icons to perform one or more corresponding securityactions through the parental control system.

More specifically, immediately adjacent, on the right, of each of thelisted names of the protected children is an icon for a vocal wave,thereby corresponding to direct communication with the child using themobile device, i.e., in-app voice communication. Similarly, adjacent tothe phone call icon is another icon for text messaging, thereby furtherenabling the guardian to communicate with the child using text message,i.e., in-app text messaging system. Furthermore, adjacent on the rightto the text messaging icon is a shield icon that further indicates morecomprehensive parental control functionalities available to theguardian.

FIG. 31 shows an example graphical user interface that may be displayedto the guardian after the guardian has toggled the shield icon for theparental control functionalities, discussed above in connection withFIG. 30. FIG. 31 may correspond to mobile application management througha cloud-based proxy security server, in accordance with embodiment 4, asdiscussed in more detail above (which, of course, may also be performedin combination with, or overlapping with, the parental control systemembodiment of embodiment 5).

As further shown in FIG. 31, the client-side application available tothe guardian, in coordination with the parental control system, maydisplay to the guardian a list of applications residing, installed,and/or executing on the child computing device, with the specific childcomputing device as selected from the list of available children shownin FIG. 30. On the left-hand column, the graphical user interfacedisplays this list of applications, whereas on the right-hand column,the graphical user interface optionally displays an indication of “timeonline” over a period of time, such as the “past 7 days.” Additionally,FIG. 31 also displays to the guardian a horizontal sequence, at the top,of the devices corresponding to the specific child selected from thescreen shown in FIG. 30. For example, this particular selected child maypossess a “Phone,” “Tablet,” and “Laptop,” as listed on the top of thegraphical user interface shown in FIG. 31. Accordingly, the guardianviewing the graphical user interface of FIG. 31 may optionally selectany one of these child computing devices. Upon selecting a specificchild computing device from this list, the list of residing/executingmobile applications shown below and within the graphical user interfacemay be refreshed and updated, thereby indicating that different sets ofmobile applications are installed on different devices possessed by thechild. For example, the guardian may select the “Phone,” and thereby seean updated list of mobile applications executing on the phone, andcorresponding indications of time online for those applications, whereasthe guardian may also select the “Laptop,” and thereby see an updatedlist of mobile applications executing on the laptop, etc.

FIG. 31 also shows a “pause” button on the bottom right-hand side of thegraphical user interface. The guardian may optionally toggle this“pause” button to thereby pause, or essentially freeze, the specificchild computing device that the guardian had selected using thegraphical user interface of FIG. 31, as discussed above. FIG. 32 shows apop-up notification that may be displayed to the guardian in response toselecting the “pause” button. In particular, the pop-up notification mayrequest for the guardian to specify a particular amount, in minutes, forwhich the particular selected child computing device will be paused orfrozen. The guardian may optionally select to perform this pausingfunctionality in response to viewing the list of available mobileapplications residing, or executing, on that particular child computingdevice. For example, the guardian may determine that these mobileapplications represent a parental control risk, and/or a security risk,and thereby motivate the guardian to pause the corresponding childcomputing device while the guardian takes other remedial actions, suchas attempting to delete or uninstall one or more of these inappropriateapplications.

FIG. 33 shows another example graphical user interface, which may bedisplayed to the guardian after the user has successfully paused thechild computing device in accordance with the discussion of FIGS. 31-32above. Accordingly, the background screen may be “grayed out,” and apause/play indicator may be displayed, in a large fashion, over thescreen of the guardian application displayed to the guardian. Thepausing functionality of this embodiment may be performed through thecloud-based proxy security service by “black-holing” network trafficoriginating from the selected child computing device, thereby preventingany of this network traffic from successfully reaching its intendeddestinations on the larger wide area network, such as the Internet, andthereby further pausing or freezing the child computing device, at leastin terms of its interactivity with the network.

FIG. 34 shows another example of a graphical user interface that may bedisplayed to the guardian. In particular, FIG. 34 shows an example ofthe graphical user interface that may be displayed to the guardian inresponse to the guardian selecting a specific one of the mobileapplications that are listed within the graphical user interface of FIG.31. Accordingly, the example of FIG. 34 shows how the graphical userinterface may display to the guardian additional or supplementarysecurity-centric information regarding the particular selected mobileapplication. These items of information may include an identifier of thedeveloper of the mobile application, identifier of the platform oroperating system on which the mobile application executes, an indicationof the version of the mobile application, an indication of whether themobile application is free or commercialized, an indication of the filesize of the mobile application, and/or an indication of the specifictiming of the last time that the mobile application was updated, asfurther shown in the specifics of FIG. 34.

FIG. 35 shows another example graphical user interface, from theperspective of the guardian, in terms of instructional lessons orseminars that are available to provide to a child protected by theparental control system, thereby enabling the child to complete theselessons or seminars and thereby achieve one or more awards, as discussedabove. In particular, FIG. 35 shows how the graphical user interface maydisplay to the guardian additional metadata or prose describing theparticulars of the lesson or seminar. The graphical user interface mayspecify to the guardian that the guardian may purchase this particularlesson or seminar, thereby making this particular lesson or seminaravailable for the guardian to provide to the child, which furtherprovides an opportunity for the child to complete the lesson and receivethe award. Moreover, the graphical user interface may also specify tothe guardian the particular price that the guardian may be required topay in order to unlock this functionality, as further discussed above(i.e., “$1.99” in the illustrative example of FIG. 35). Forcompleteness, FIG. 36 also shows a subsequent graphical user interfacescreen through which the guardian may navigate to complete the processof purchasing a particular lesson or seminar, as further discussedabove.

Additionally, FIG. 37 shows how the guardian may return to alesson/seminar home screen, and the screen may further display, at thetop, an indicator of “purchased” lessons/seminars. Accordingly, theguardian may optionally toggle this particular indicator, therebytriggering the display, within the graphical user interface, of a listof all of the lessons/seminars that the guardian has previouslypurchased in accordance with the examples of FIGS. 35-36, as discussedin more detail above.

FIG. 38 shows another example graphical user interface that may bedisplayed to the guardian to enable the guardian, after the guardian haspreviously purchased one of the lessons, to provide that specifiedlesson to one or more of the children protected by the parental controlsystem. For example, the particular graphical user interface maydisplay, in a horizontal sequence, a list of user icons, each of whichmay correspond to one of the children protected by the parental controlsystem. The guardian may optionally select one or more of theseparticular icons, thereby triggering the pop-up notification shown inFIG. 38. In the specific example of this figure, the graphical userinterface may prompt the guardian by asking “Do you want to send thisbonus item to Jonathan?” The pop-up notification may also provide twodifferent options in terms of offering a reward to the child forcompleting this particular lesson. These two options may include “Rewardwith Money” (i.e., “$0.99”) and “Reward with Time” (“30 minutes”). Theguardian may optionally select one of these two different options tothereby provide the offer to the child, at which point the child willhave the opportunity to complete the corresponding lesson and therebyreceive the corresponding reward that was selected by the guardian inaccordance with the graphical user interface of FIG. 38. Alternatively,in other examples, the child may have already completed the lesson shownin FIG. 38, and the pop-up notification of this figure may enable theguardian to finalize the process of releasing a corresponding reward tothe child, after the child has already completed the lesson.

FIG. 39 shows another example of a child-side application, incoordination with a parental control system. The application of FIG. 39may optionally execute in combination with the application firstdescribed above in connection with FIG. 20. In particular, FIG. 39 showsa graphical user interface that enables the child to select or toggleone or more potential guardians, from a list of guardians that are shownin a horizontal list within this figure (e.g., Christian L., Josh T.,etc.). After toggling one or more of the guardians, the childinteracting with the parental control application of FIG. 39 may alsooptionally toggle the button for “environment safety.” Upon togglingthis particular button, the graphical user interface may display ascreen corresponding to FIG. 40, which may display geolocationinformation and/or corresponding safety reports (e.g., police, weather,and/or other bulletins regarding safety in connection with thatparticular geolocation of the child). In particular, FIG. 40 shows anillustrative graphical user interface that displays items of informationregarding the safety of the child in connection with the geolocation ofthe child. These items of information include a geolocation indicator(e.g., “San Francisco”), as well as items of information indicating acrime index, indicating a total number of crimes, and/or a percentage ofvictims of crime, etc.

Returning to the example of FIG. 39, the child may also optionallytoggle a button corresponding to “Go On A Trip.” Toggling this buttonmay further trigger the display to the child of a screen correspondingto FIG. 41. As further shown in FIG. 41, the child-side application maydisplay to the child fields of input enabling the child to enterinformation regarding the details of a trip that the child is planningto take. For example, the graphical user interface may display to thechild a destination field, in which the child may specify an indicatorof a geolocation destination to which the child is intended to arriveat. The graphical user interface of FIG. 41 may also display buttonsthereby enabling the child to designate whether the child will becompleting the trip by foot, by car, by bus, by bicycle, etc. Thegraphical user interface of FIG. 41 may also display an indication ofthe guardians that the child previously selected within the graphicaluser interface of FIG. 39. These are the guardians who will optionallybe notified, according to the parental control system, of items ofinformation regarding the trip that the child has planned, includingupdates on the child's geolocation and indications of whether the childcompleted the intended trip within the intended amount of time.Similarly, the graphical user interface of FIG. 41 may display a fieldof input enabling the child to specify an amount of time over which thetrip is expected to elapse. Accordingly, the failure of the child toarrive at the specified geolocation destination within the amount oftime specified by the child (or otherwise calculated by the parentalcontrol system) may thereby trigger an alert or warning, which mayfurther be transmitted to one or more guardians, including the guardiansthat the child previously selected, as further discussed above. Thechild may also specifically trigger the “trip” monitoring functionalityby toggling the “START TRIP” button that is displayed at the bottom ofthe graphical user interface of FIG. 41. Of course, in other alternativeexamples, the trip monitoring, detecting, and/or alerting functionalityas described above in connection with a parental control system for achild, may also be applied to adults to protect them when they intend totravel across one or more areas while potentially encountering one ormore risks or dangers (e.g., the “trip” functionality described above isnot necessarily limited in application to protecting children asdistinct from adults).

FIG. 42 is a block diagram of an example computing system 4210 capableof implementing one or more of the embodiments described and/orillustrated herein. For example, all or a portion of computing system4210 may perform and/or be a means for performing, either alone or incombination with other elements, one or more of the steps describedherein (such as one or more of the steps illustrated in FIG. 2). All ora portion of computing system 4210 may also perform and/or be a meansfor performing any other steps, methods, or processes described and/orillustrated herein.

Computing system 4210 broadly represents any single or multi-processorcomputing device or system capable of executing computer-readableinstructions. Examples of computing system 4210 include, withoutlimitation, workstations, laptops, client-side terminals, servers,distributed computing systems, handheld devices, or any other computingsystem or device. In its most basic configuration, computing system 4210may include at least one processor 4214 and a system memory 4216.

Processor 4214 generally represents any type or form of physicalprocessing unit (e.g., a hardware-implemented central processing unit)capable of processing data or interpreting and executing instructions.In certain embodiments, processor 4214 may receive instructions from asoftware application or module. These instructions may cause processor4214 to perform the functions of one or more of the example embodimentsdescribed and/or illustrated herein.

System memory 4216 generally represents any type or form of volatile ornon-volatile storage device or medium capable of storing data and/orother computer-readable instructions. Examples of system memory 4216include, without limitation, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read OnlyMemory (ROM), flash memory, or any other suitable memory device.Although not required, in certain embodiments computing system 4210 mayinclude both a volatile memory unit (such as, for example, system memory4216) and a non-volatile storage device. In one example, one or more ofmodules 102 from FIG. 1 may be loaded into system memory 4216.

In some examples, system memory 4216 may store and/or load an operatingsystem 4240 for execution by processor 4214. In one example, operatingsystem 4240 may include and/or represent software that manages computerhardware and software resources and/or provides common services tocomputer programs and/or applications on computing system 4210. Examplesof operating system 4240 include, without limitation, LINUX, JUNOS,MICROSOFT WINDOWS, WINDOWS MOBILE, MAC OS, APPLE'S 10S, UNIX, GOOGLECHROME OS, GOOGLE'S ANDROID, SOLARIS, variations of one or more of thesame, and/or any other suitable operating system.

In certain embodiments, example computing system 4210 may also includeone or more components or elements in addition to processor 4214 andsystem memory 4216. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 42, computingsystem 4210 may include a memory controller 4218, an Input/Output (I/O)controller 4220, and a communication interface 4222, each of which maybe interconnected via a communication infrastructure 4212. Communicationinfrastructure 4212 generally represents any type or form ofinfrastructure capable of facilitating communication between one or morecomponents of a computing device. Examples of communicationinfrastructure 4212 include, without limitation, a communication bus(such as an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI), PCI Express (PCIe), or similar bus) and a network.

Memory controller 4218 generally represents any type or form of devicecapable of handling memory or data or controlling communication betweenone or more components of computing system 4210. For example, in certainembodiments memory controller 4218 may control communication betweenprocessor 4214, system memory 4216, and I/O controller 4220 viacommunication infrastructure 4212.

As illustrated in FIG. 42, computing system 4210 may also include atleast one display device 4224 coupled to I/O controller 4220 via adisplay adapter 4226. Display device 4224 generally represents any typeor form of device capable of visually displaying information forwardedby display adapter 4226. Similarly, display adapter 4226 generallyrepresents any type or form of device configured to forward graphics,text, and other data from communication infrastructure 4212 (or from aframe buffer, as known in the art) for display on display device 4224.

As detailed above, computing system 4210 and/or one or more componentsof network architecture 4300 may perform and/or be a means forperforming, either alone or in combination with other elements, one ormore steps of an example method for protecting users.

While the foregoing disclosure sets forth various embodiments usingspecific block diagrams, flowcharts, and examples, each block diagramcomponent, flowchart step, operation, and/or component described and/orillustrated herein may be implemented, individually and/or collectively,using a wide range of hardware, software, or firmware (or anycombination thereof) configurations. In addition, any disclosure ofcomponents contained within other components should be consideredexample in nature since many other architectures can be implemented toachieve the same functionality.

In some examples, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1 mayrepresent portions of a cloud-computing or network-based environment.Cloud-computing environments may provide various services andapplications via the Internet. These cloud-based services (e.g.,software as a service, platform as a service, infrastructure as aservice, etc.) may be accessible through a web browser or other remoteinterface. Various functions described herein may be provided through aremote desktop environment or any other cloud-based computingenvironment.

In various embodiments, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1may facilitate multi-tenancy within a cloud-based computing environment.In other words, the software modules described herein may configure acomputing system (e.g., a server) to facilitate multi-tenancy for one ormore of the functions described herein. For example, one or more of thesoftware modules described herein may program a server to enable two ormore clients (e.g., customers) to share an application that is runningon the server. A server programmed in this manner may share anapplication, operating system, processing system, and/or storage systemamong multiple customers (i.e., tenants). One or more of the modulesdescribed herein may also partition data and/or configurationinformation of a multi-tenant application for each customer such thatone customer cannot access data and/or configuration information ofanother customer.

According to various embodiments, all or a portion of example system 100in FIG. 1 may be implemented within a virtual environment. For example,the modules and/or data described herein may reside and/or executewithin a virtual machine. As used herein, the term “virtual machine”generally refers to any operating system environment that is abstractedfrom computing hardware by a virtual machine manager (e.g., ahypervisor). Additionally or alternatively, the modules and/or datadescribed herein may reside and/or execute within a virtualizationlayer. As used herein, the term “virtualization layer” generally refersto any data layer and/or application layer that overlays and/or isabstracted from an operating system environment. A virtualization layermay be managed by a software virtualization solution (e.g., a filesystem filter) that presents the virtualization layer as though it werepart of an underlying base operating system. For example, a softwarevirtualization solution may redirect calls that are initially directedto locations within a base file system and/or registry to locationswithin a virtualization layer.

In some examples, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1 mayrepresent portions of a mobile computing environment. Mobile computingenvironments may be implemented by a wide range of mobile computingdevices, including mobile phones, tablet computers, e-book readers,personal digital assistants, wearable computing devices (e.g., computingdevices with a head-mounted display, smartwatches, etc.), and the like.In some examples, mobile computing environments may have one or moredistinct features, including, for example, reliance on battery power,presenting only one foreground application at any given time, remotemanagement features, touchscreen features, location and movement data(e.g., provided by Global Positioning Systems, gyroscopes,accelerometers, etc.), restricted platforms that restrict modificationsto system-level configurations and/or that limit the ability ofthird-party software to inspect the behavior of other applications,controls to restrict the installation of applications (e.g., to onlyoriginate from approved application stores), etc. Various functionsdescribed herein may be provided for a mobile computing environmentand/or may interact with a mobile computing environment.

In addition, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1 mayrepresent portions of, interact with, consume data produced by, and/orproduce data consumed by one or more systems for information management.As used herein, the term “information management” may refer to theprotection, organization, and/or storage of data. Examples of systemsfor information management may include, without limitation, storagesystems, backup systems, archival systems, replication systems, highavailability systems, data search systems, virtualization systems, andthe like.

In some embodiments, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1may represent portions of, produce data protected by, and/or communicatewith one or more systems for information security. As used herein, theterm “information security” may refer to the control of access toprotected data. Examples of systems for information security mayinclude, without limitation, systems providing managed securityservices, data loss prevention systems, identity authentication systems,access control systems, encryption systems, policy compliance systems,intrusion detection and prevention systems, electronic discoverysystems, and the like.

According to some examples, all or a portion of example system 100 inFIG. 1 may represent portions of, communicate with, and/or receiveprotection from one or more systems for endpoint security. As usedherein, the term “endpoint security” may refer to the protection ofendpoint systems from unauthorized and/or illegitimate use, access,and/or control. Examples of systems for endpoint protection may include,without limitation, anti-malware systems, user authentication systems,encryption systems, privacy systems, spam-filtering services, and thelike.

The process parameters and sequence of steps described and/orillustrated herein are given by way of example only and can be varied asdesired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or describedherein may be shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps donot necessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated ordiscussed. The various example methods described and/or illustratedherein may also omit one or more of the steps described or illustratedherein or include additional steps in addition to those disclosed.

While various embodiments have been described and/or illustrated hereinin the context of fully functional computing systems, one or more ofthese example embodiments may be distributed as a program product in avariety of forms, regardless of the particular type of computer-readablemedia used to actually carry out the distribution. The embodimentsdisclosed herein may also be implemented using software modules thatperform certain tasks. These software modules may include script, batch,or other executable files that may be stored on a computer-readablestorage medium or in a computing system. In some embodiments, thesesoftware modules may configure a computing system to perform one or moreof the example embodiments disclosed herein.

In addition, one or more of the modules described herein may transformdata, physical devices, and/or representations of physical devices fromone form to another. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of themodules recited herein may transform a processor, volatile memory,non-volatile memory, and/or any other portion of a physical computingdevice from one form to another by executing on the computing device,storing data on the computing device, and/or otherwise interacting withthe computing device.

The preceding description has been provided to enable others skilled inthe art to best utilize various aspects of the example embodimentsdisclosed herein. This example description is not intended to beexhaustive or to be limited to any precise form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations are possible without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments disclosedherein should be considered in all respects illustrative and notrestrictive. Reference should be made to the appended claims and theirequivalents in determining the scope of the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise noted, the terms “connected to” and “coupled to” (andtheir derivatives), as used in the specification and claims, are to beconstrued as permitting both direct and indirect (i.e., via otherelements or components) connection. In addition, the terms “a” or “an,”as used in the specification and claims, are to be construed as meaning“at least one of.” Finally, for ease of use, the terms “including” and“having” (and their derivatives), as used in the specification andclaims, are interchangeable with and have the same meaning as the word“comprising.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for protectingusers, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computingdevice comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:intercepting an attempt to login to a user account of an applicationusing a login credential; preventing a user corresponding to the useraccount from revealing personally identifiable information by populatinga field for the login credential with a value for an identity-maskingpersona as a substitute for the personally identifiable information; andenabling a completion of the attempt to login to the user account of theapplication using the value for the identity-masking persona, ratherthan the personally identifiable information, to provide the user withaccess to an online resource through the application; wherein preventingthe user corresponding to the user account from revealing the personallyidentifiable information comprises: retrieving a map that mapsidentity-masking personas to corresponding applications; and identifyingthe identity-masking persona that, according to the map, corresponds tothe application.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinintercepting the attempt to login to the user account of the applicationusing the login credential is performed by a cloud-based proxy securityservice.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, whereinintercepting the attempt to login to the user account of the applicationusing the login credential is performed by the cloud-based proxysecurity service in coordination with a client-side application at aclient device operated by the user.
 4. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, wherein the login credential comprises at least one of ausername or password.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein populating the field for the login credential comprisesdetecting that the field for the login credential was previouslypopulated by personally identifiable information.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein populating the field forthe login credential comprises substituting the value for theidentity-masking persona for the personally identifiable information. 7.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein enabling thecompletion of the attempt to login to the user account of theapplication comprises: presenting the field for the login credentialpopulated with the value for the identity-masking persona to the user ata client device; and receiving approval from the user at the clientdevice for completion of the attempt to login to the user account of theapplication using the value for the identity-masking persona.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identity-maskingpersona deviates from the personally identifiable information along atleast two of the following dimensions: underlying social media content;natural language usage; writing style; and social media meme usage. 9.The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein: the dimensions areconsistent with each other in accordance with a demographic of theidentity-masking persona; and the demographic of the identity-maskingpersona deviates from the personally identifiable information for theuser.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein populatingthe field for the login credential with the value for theidentity-masking persona comprises populating the field within a loginscreen according to an avatar of the identity-masking persona.
 11. Asystem for protecting users, the system comprising: an interceptionmodule, stored in memory, that intercepts an attempt to login to a useraccount of an application using a login credential; a prevention module,stored in memory, that prevents a user corresponding to the user accountfrom revealing personally identifiable information by populating a fieldfor the login credential with a value for an identity-masking persona asa substitute for the personally identifiable information; an enablementmodule, stored in memory, that enables a completion of the attempt tologin to the user account of the application using the value for theidentity-masking persona, rather than the personally identifiableinformation, to provide the user with access to an online resourcethrough the application; and a physical processor configured to executethe interception module, the prevention module, and the enablementmodule; wherein the prevention module prevents the user corresponding tothe user account from revealing the personally identifiable informationat least in part by: retrieving a map that maps identity-maskingpersonas to corresponding applications; and identifying theidentity-masking persona that, according to the map, corresponds to theapplication.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the intercepting theattempt to login to the user account of the application using the logincredential is performed by the interception module as part of acloud-based proxy security service.
 13. The system of claim 12, whereinintercepting the attempt to login to the user account of the applicationusing the login credential is performed by the cloud-based proxysecurity service in coordination with a client-side application at aclient device operated by the user.
 14. The system of claim 11, whereinthe login credential comprises at least one of a username or password.15. The system of claim 11, wherein the prevention module populating thefield for the login credential comprises the prevention module detectingthat the field for the login credential was previously populated bypersonally identifiable information.
 16. The system of claim 15, whereinthe prevention module populating the field for the login credentialcomprises the prevention module substituting the value for theidentity-masking persona for the personally identifiable information.17. The system of claim 11, wherein the enablement module enabling thecompletion of the attempt to login to the user account of theapplication comprises: the enablement module presenting the field forthe login credential populated with the value for the identity-maskingpersona to the user at a client device; and the enablement modulereceiving approval from the user at the client device for completion ofthe attempt to login to the user account of the application using thevalue for the identity-masking persona.
 18. The system of claim 11,wherein the identity-masking persona deviates from the personallyidentifiable information along at least two of the following dimensions:underlying social media content; natural language usage; writing style;and social media meme usage.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein: thedimensions are consistent with each other in accordance with ademographic of the identity-masking persona; and the demographic of theidentity-masking persona deviates from the personally identifiableinformation for the user.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumencoded with computer-executable instructions that, when executed by aphysical processor of a computing device, cause the computing device toperform a method comprising: intercepting an attempt to login to a useraccount of an application using a login credential; preventing a usercorresponding to the user account from revealing personally identifiableinformation by populating a field for the login credential with a valuefor an identity-masking persona as a substitute for the personallyidentifiable information; and enabling a completion of the attempt tologin to the user account of the application using the value for theidentity-masking persona, rather than the personally identifiableinformation, to provide the user with access to an online resourcethrough the application; wherein preventing the user corresponding tothe user account from revealing the personally identifiable informationcomprises: retrieving a map that maps identity-masking personas tocorresponding applications; and identifying the identity-masking personathat, according to the map, corresponds to the application.